U.S. patent Specification No. 4,775,944 describes a control system for air conditioning and/or hot water supplying apparatus using a central heat source which supplies cooling or heating to a plurality of dwelling units of a congregated or multi-storied house. The system includes a database which stores data for forecasting weather or atmospheric phenomena near the multi-storied house on the basis of the data from a weather information sensor. Thus, while such a database may provide a useful record of what weather has previously occurred (during the existence of the database) in the immediate local vicinity, it inevitably has limited data of weather conditions on which to call, and the prediction techniques and expertise are unsophisticated, typically relying on trying to provide a close fit between prevailing weather conditions and what can be found in the database.
For a number of years, various national meteorological organisations have provided detailed weather forecast information to companies in order to assist them in handling their commercial activities, for example, agriculture or power-stations. Typically, the weather forecast information is used merely to time harvesting or to vary the output of, for example, the power-station.